Written by Ben Barry, AnyBody member and CEO of a modelling agency for women in their diversity

On this final day of L¹Oreal Fashion Week, Canada¹s top models are struttingtheir stuff in Toronto. For some, this will have been their first chance towalk the runway. Others will be veterans of the global catwalk circuit. Butthey will all have one thing in common: Extreme, some would say freakish,thinness.

Models are the stars of every fashion week. Sure, designers create theoutfits but the models bring those clothes to life. Their faces and bodiessaturate our televisions, newspapers, and computer screens. Models are theones with glamour on tap, the kind of glamour we all supposedly want totaste.

For the past nine years < since I was 15 years old < I have attendedcountless fashion shows. I was initially an up-and-coming modeling agentsneaking into the shows through back doors. I eventually became established,and I was officially invited to sit among the fashion elite.

³Ben, you¹re so lucky,² my friends bemoan. ³Going to fashion shows, andmeeting the models. It must all be so glamorous.² They plead to be invited.Just to one show. Just to meet one model. Just to be glamorous, too.That sad truth is that I have always found fashion modeling to be a tragicand demeaning experience.

In the days before a fashion week begins, models rush to meet with designersfor castings. The designers flip through models¹ portfolio; ask them to walkthe length of the room; have them try on articles of clothing; and ofcourse, take their pictures. The models are in and out without sayinganything more than ³yes² and ³thank you.² When asked what these designersremember about the models, they respond, ³her size.² Physical attributesconstitute the only job requirement.

Things start going wrong for many models right away. At one casting,³Ashley,² 19 years old, size zero, 5¹10², is asked to try on a pair oftrousers. After a couple of minutes of struggling to close the top button,the designer marches over. ³Your hips are too big, you need to make themsmaller,² he says in front of all the other models before shooing her outthe door. Ashley leaves, humiliated and confused, wondering how she wassupposed to alter the size of her hips.

The girls who do get booked for shows aren¹t allowed to leave their bodystress behind them. Backstage is where things get really frightening.At London Fashion Week 2007, I took it all in. One model, ³Jennifer,² wastrying to close a zipper on her designer jacket. The designer stood beforeher, shaking his head. ³You¹ve gotten fat,² he said to the 18 year old, sizezero model. ³I¹ll need to let this jacket out. It will ruin the cut. They¹renot made for big girls like you.²

Jennifer turned red. She managed to hold back her tears as the designer madehis adjustments, and everyone stopped to gawk.

On another occasion, I witnessed an equally thin model get even worsetreatment when she couldn¹t fit into her size zero dress. The designerpointed to another model and proclaimed, ³She¹ll wear the dress instead.Your stomach has gotten too big. Dismissed!² The girl tried to hide betweenthe racks of clothing while she peeled off the tiny dress. She was laterescorted out as once again everyone stared.

The situation is worse for mature models; we are talking anyone older than20. Most begin their careers at a time when their body shape is stillpre-pubescent. They get older, they develop curves, and bye-bye samplesizes.

I met Rena, 22 years old, size two, backstage at London Fashion Week. Shetold me that this had to be her last season. ³I can¹t handle it any more.Every time I do a show now, I get so anxious. There are so many teenagegirls. I¹m on Slim-Fast, but there¹s no way I can compete any longer.² Ioffered her an apple. ³No, thanks,² she replied, ³My agent said fruit causesbloating.² I assured her that there is no fat in fruit but she didn¹t care.Megan, 16 years old, put it this way: ³No matter how skinny you are, youalways think you can be skinner, and there are other girls that are going tobe skinner than you.² If the very women representing the beauty ideal feelexcluded from it, how can anyone feel included?

Agents are always there to make sure a model¹s weight remains first andforemost in her mind. Rebecca, 18 years old, dropped by her agency before acasting to surprise her hard-working booker with a latte. Her kindness wasrepaid by her being unexpectedly weighed and measured in front of everyonewho happened to be there.

Constant public humiliation < whether at the casting, the fashion show, orthe agency < is the norm in the so-called glamorous life of a model.Everyone in the fashion world, from the agents to the designers to themake-up artists, feels that they have a God-given right to comment on amodel¹s appearance. And everyone is prepared to tell painfully thin modelsthat they need to be thinner. Comments like these would amount to harassmentin any other profession.

It is no wonder that many models develop eating disorders. No one valuestheir thoughts, personalities, or feelings. Everyone values them for theirbodies alone. In time, models internalize the dangerous idea that they areworth what they look like.

I have met many models who had a passion for politics, or writing, orbasketball when they first started. Two or three years later, any otherinterests are squelched to make way for a deep and abiding obsession withweight and appearance. The sad irony is the qualities that make supermodels< the ones who rise to the very top of the industry, exude energy, attitude,and character with every strut and pose < are progressively stripped away bythe casting process when it comes to most girls.

The fashion industry claims that they are not to blame for any deaths bymalnutrition. These are isolated incidents, they say. The ways models aretreated and valued supposedly has nothing to do with these tragedies. I begto differ. Just YouTube any episode of Next Top Model (either the Canadianor American version) and watch how girls are transformed in front of youreyes from multi-faceted, confident young women to weight-obsessed, insecurewrecks. The heartrending incidents are the result of working within anindustry that objectifies women, which in turn teaches them to objectifythemselves.

This must sound very hypocritical coming from a modeling agent. But I dothings differently. My models span all ages, sizes, colours, and abilities.They are accepted, promoted, and hired based on their natural physicalattributes. I don¹t represent any models full-time. They go to school, workas doctors and sales clerks, and run their own businesses. Modeling issomething they do on the side for a few days every month < a performance towhich they bring their varied experiences to bear.

I don¹t expect our entire ³glamorous² modeling industry to follow my exampleovernight. What can we do to protect the wellbeing of our Canadian models inthe short term? L¹Oreal Fashion Week needs to follow the lead of eventorganizers in Madrid and Milan by mandating medical tests for each model toensure they are of healthy weight. Let them feel like they can get away witheating an apple now and then.

In the long run, we should go all the way and make true body diversity thefashion in Canada: models of all ages, sizes, colours, and abilities. Bodydiversity on the catwalks might be more attainable than you think. The March2007 issue of Vogue, arguably the most powerful fashion player in the world,features size 12/14 Jennifer Hudson on its cover. If Vogue can do it,L¹Oreal Fashion Week can give it a shot.

Such a strategy would draw international media attention to Toronto¹scatwalks, something missing from the Canadian shows right now. And for thoseworried about the bottom line, diversity would allow consumers to relate tothe models, relate to the brand, and demonstrate that positive relationshipthrough spending power. Most significantly, women reading magazines andwatching fashion television who say, ³I could never look like that,² will befree to re-discover themselves.

Then, and only then, will modeling truly be a glamorous life.National Postben@benbarry.comBen Barry is CEO of the Ben Barry Agency, a model consultancyheadquartered in Toronto. He is a graduate student at Judge Business School,Cambridge University and author of Fashioning Reality (Key Porter Books).

Reader Comments (19)

I really enjoyed this article. I am always trying to foster good relationships with people who can help my cause. This really breaks it down to a step by step process which is good.Regards:Tissot replica watches,http://www.watcheslux.com/tissot-watches.html

The package bento is really good. They know how to make a good food for all the kids. They make a funny thing that use all the ingredients that all the kids can eat coz it made from the vegetables.http://www.lease-hire.co.uk/